The Hanging Tree
by Imperial-sama
Summary: Can be seen as a companion fic to my other story, Anywhere But Here. 2p!Hetaoni. 2p!China/2p!Japan. In another timeline, he wondered why he came here. When he saw the former occupant of the mansion, he wondered why he chose to stay. Oh right, it was to save him, but by the time he entered the mansion, the rope was already around his neck.


**Yep, this story was a long progress. Anyhoo, on my last 2p!Hetaoni one shot, one anon left some constructive criticism in a review and they seemed to be afraid they offended me. **

**I'm not sure if the anon will ever see this, but anon, you DID NOT offend me at all! Seriously, constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated. It helps me improve and gives me insight to what I need to work on. That goes to say compliments or any form of feedback are all also appreciated :) **

**Anyway, I present to you all another 2p!Hetaoni story with 2p!China/2p!Japan! and as always, since this is 2p!hetalia, the characters will not be the same as their 1p! counterparts. **

**WARNING: Spoilers for Hetaoni ahead. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia and I never will. **

The Hanging Tree

"Oh come on, China. Don't tell me you're scared." Russia smirked, turning toward the shorter man beside him.

"Of course I'm not scared. It's just an abandoned mansion. The most frightening thing about it are the rumors surrounding it." the Asian man scoffed, observing the building before him.

Despite the rumors of the mansion standing for hundreds of years, the building looked like it was built just the day before, like time had never touched it. From what China could see, the structure stood at least three stories tall, dawning light, cream colored walls.

Even with the house's beautiful outward appearance, China still felt a dark presence about the building, almost as if they were falling into an enemy's trap.

He concluded that there was something deceptive in the house's beauty.

However, he couldn't run away. It was too late for that. If the other nations were in the house, then that would probably mean that Japan was already in there. If that was the case, there was no way that China was going to leave him.

"China?" Russia questioned, breaking the Chinese man out of his thoughts.

"Hm? What is it?" China replied, regaining his composure.

"Ready to go in?"

"Of course. After you." China said, allowing his ally to walk in first.

The inside of the house was the same as the outside, clean and tidy. The pristine, wooden floors were polished and the walls were a spotless white. It was oddly clean, for a place that looked like no one had stepped foot in it for over a millennium.

"Let's explore while we wait for the others to get here, China. I can take the second floor and you can take the first floor." Russia said, already beginning to walk toward a flight of stairs.

"Yeah, sure." China replied absent-mindedly, already entering one of the rooms.

Once inside, China examined the empty room, finding it just as clean as the rest of the house.

'_How can this house be so pristine when no one lives in it?' _he thought, his eyes shifting around the room.

After finding nothing in the first room, China went to a second room, where he found a bookshelf, along with a couple of beds. He decided to examine the bookshelf first, hoping to find a diary of a former occupant or another recording of any former life in the house.

Unfortunately, the search proved fruitless as most of the books were on mundane subjects. Most of the books were on cooking or plants, definitely nothing suspicious there. Still, China couldn't shake the feeling of dread surrounding the mansion.

Finally, China moved on to a third room, where he saw something that made his blood run cold. Inside of the nearly empty room was an alien, or at least something that looked like one. The alien was bulky and grey, at least four heads taller than the smaller Asian behind him. It wasn't bad enough that China had just seen a monster in plain sight, no the situation had to get worse.

As if sensing the presence behind it, the giant, grey mass turned around, seeing its next prey. The thing allowed its mouth to form a disturbing grin, its teeth looking like a thousand thick needles. It stepped forward as China took a step back, the Asian man's mind in a panic.

'_Shit! What do I do now? I'm completely defenseless against this thing!' _he thought, cursing the fact that he decided to leave his swords at home. He doubted that his martial arts would be of any use here. Against a human opponent, his fighting skills were excellent, but against this demon, China wasn't sure how useful his skills were. So, he had to go with the next best option, run.

Despite his overwhelming fear, China quickly turned on his heel and sprinted out the door. He didn't care how he did it, he didn't care if he would be saved by someone else or not, he just needed to survive.

Turning a corner, he quickly bolted into another room, desperately trying to escape from the demon he couldn't defend himself against. His eyes darted around the room, searching for any kind of weapon he could defend himself with.

Hearing the door open, China whirled around, finding the monster staring at him with its dull, black eyes. With inhuman speed, the monster quickly ran toward its smaller prey, trying to land a hit on China with an outstretched claw.

Seeing an opening between the monster's legs, China slid between the massive grey structures, quickly getting back up on his feet and bolting out the door. He sprinted down the hall, quickly making his way up the stairs to try to find Russia.

"Russia! RUSSIA GET OUT HERE!" China screeched, trying to locate his ally.

Hearing his ally, the larger man burst through a nearby door, pulling China inside and covering his mouth. Russia quickly shut the door behind him, locking it soon after.

China's cries were muffled as Russia's hand clamped down tighter, the larger man making a quiet shushing sound. After pacifying the smaller man, Russia placed his ear against the door as China looked around the room, seeing the one man he came here looking for.

'_Japan?' _China thought. The Japanese man only stared at him in silence, unmoving.

After a few moments, Russia let out a sigh of relief as footsteps faded away. Slowly, the teller man released his hand from his ally's mouth, allowing the Asian man to speak.

"What the hell was that thing?" he hissed, being careful not to attract the thing again.

"I'll tell you all in a minute, but for now, why don't we go get the others?" Japan suggested, standing up.

"Yes, I suppose that would be best." Russia agreed, standing after.

China only stayed silent as he stood and followed the others out the door. He wanted his questions to be answered, but he figured picking a fight with the other nations wasn't the best thing to do right now.

After all, it was obvious there was a bigger threat in the mansion.

He continued to trail behind the other two nations until Japan led them to another room. The three nations entered the room, seeing Germany, Italy, America, England, and France in the room as well.

"I got everyone else." Japan said, Italy nodding.

"Good, now we can discuss this...situation as a group." Italy said. "Alright, now I assume you have all seen the monster, yes?"

The nations glanced at each other for a moment before nodding.

An eerie silence filled the room, none of the nations wanting to ask the most obvious question. After a few moments, China spoke up, wanting to make progress.

"What the hell was that thing?"

"How should I know? All I know is that it's an alien like thing trying to kill us. What other explanation do you need?" Italy replied, shrugging.

"Don't speak so lightly of it! That thing looks like it could snap our necks!" China retorted, crossing his arms. "We need to think of a counter measure against it, not just sit around twiddling our thumbs."

"I agree." Japan added, much to China's surprise. Usually, the younger Asian would only express hatred for the man who raised him.

"We should devise a plan to beat that thing, rather than wait for it to come find us. I say we work together from here on out, or at least until we're out of this mansion. There's no need for us to be fighting when we have a common enemy." Japan added.

"Hm...yes, that would be the best course of action." Germany agreed, Italy nodding after.

"Good. Since there are no objections, we should discuss a counter measure for that thing, like China suggested." Japan proposed.

"So...anyone have any ideas?" Italy asked.

Silence.

China looked around, seeing many of the nations with their gazes cast downwards. It didn't look like anyone was going to suggest anything. Sighing, he spoke up.

"Well, for one thing. I think no one should wander the mansion alone. We don't know what our enemy is capable of." he suggested.

"That's understandable." England commented. "So, we should all go around in groups of at least two."

"Exactly. Furthermore, our first objective should be to get out of this place." China continued. "With that thing in the house, who knows what else is here?"

No one held any objections, so China assumed that they all agreed.

"No one's very talkative tonight, huh?" he commented, hoping to break the silence.

"I think...I think that everyone is just shaken about the thing they saw. Maybe we should rest for the night, it would give us sometime to clear our heads. We can search for a way out tomorrow." Germany said.

"I think we should do that." America said, finally speaking.

"Alright then, we'll rest. However, where is a safe place to rest? I'm sure the demon won't have a problem barging in." China objected.

"I found a place where we can rest for a while." Germany replied. "Follow me."

One by one, the nations all followed the blonde to another room with a steel door in the corner. Quirking an eyebrow, China watched as Germany pushed open the door and entered, the rest of the nations following him.

"Ow! Who hit my head?" England called.

"Shit!" Russia hissed.

'_Why on Earth is this corridor so damn small?' _China thought, scowling. He continued to move forward, trying to avoid the other nations' limbs as he did so.

After what seemed like hours of walking through the darkness, Germany opened another door, allowing a bright light to spill through as they all entered another room.

As China observed the new room, his eyes widened. The room was beautiful. It had clean, wooden floors and a small kitchen area from what China could see.

There was just one problem.

As China looked toward the sleeping area, he only saw five beds.

'_In the next five minutes, this room is going to become a fighting ring.' _China thought, a frown forming on his face. Outside of this house, they were enemies, so there was no way in hell the other nations would agree to share beds. Plus, everyone was so high strung, it was a miracle no one snapped already. He took a step back, mentally preparing himself for whatever chaos was about to be unleashed.

"Hey, why are there only five beds?" America asked, walking over to the sleeping area to inspect it.

"How should I know? I just found the room. I didn't build it myself." Germany replied, crossing his arms. "We'll just have to share beds."

"Oh hell no! I'm not doing that shit!" America protested.

"Oh come on America, I'll share a bed with you~" England added, slipping an arm through the taller man's.

"No. No no no no! I'm getting my own bed even if I have to beat my way toward one!" America growled, a hand already reaching toward his spiked bat.

"How about I propose another option?" Japan spoke up, everyone's heads turning to him as he continued. "Why don't we forget about sharing beds and instead just use the pillows and blankets to make futons? They require less room, they'll be easy to clean up, and we won't have to share."

China listened to Japan, impressed with the commanding tone the smaller man adopted. His proposal seemed decent enough, and China had no problems with it. It was the other nations that they had to worry about.

A thick silence enveloped the room before America spoke again.

"Fine. As long as I don't have to share a bed with this guy I'll be fine." he said, removing his arm from England's.

"It sounds fine to me." Italy said, shrugging.

"So everyone is in agreement then?" Japan asked, scanning the room for anyone who disagreed.

Seeing no signs of opposition, the Japanese man only shrugged before speaking again.

"Very well. Since there is no one who disagrees, let's get started on making the sleeping area. Germany and America, you two start moving the beds."

"_What?_ Why do I have to do the manual labor? This is your idea!" America said.

"Well, I'm older than most of the people in this room, so of course _I _can't do the heavy lifting. What, do you _want _me to injure myself?" Japan replied, keeping his tone level.

"You know, that wouldn't sound too bad right now." America said, only making Japan tsk. China noticed something had changed in the other man's tone though, was that irritation?

"Yeah, purposefully injure me so I won't be able to save your sorry ass when the demon comes to get you." Japan sneered.

"Who the hell said I needed your help?" America retorted, stepping forward in an effort to try to intimidate his smaller opponent.

However, as usual, Japan kept his cool calculated glare.

"Your allies did. Without Germany, Italy, and I, your allies would have been nothing more than _minced flesh. _You and your allies should be thankful that we didn't leave you all to die_." _Japan replied, a hidden edge to his calm tone. "Your deaths would certainly make the war easier to win."

"Oh yeah, well why didn't you just kill us off then?"

China thought it was just the lighting in the room, but he could've sworn that Japan threw a quick glance in his direction.

"I did not allow the demon to eat you all because it would be a fruitless victory. What's the fun in letting another being take away your kill? If I want to win, I want to win using my own skills, not a cannibalistic, grey mass." Japan stated.

"Why you little-"

"That's enough, America. We've wasted too much time on this already. If you want to debate this further with me, we can do so in private. I believe the others wish to rest." Japan interrupted. "I guess I'll have to set up the area since you are acting like a child."

While America stood in his spot, blinking, Japan walked over to the beds and started to gather the sheets the pillows from each one, dumping the mass of cloth in a large pile away from the sleeping area.

America took a quick glance at the rest of his allies before begrudgingly walking over to the sleeping area to help Germany move the beds.

China only shrugged before going to help Japan with the sheets. The other nations occupied themselves with setting up the makeshift futons near the middle of the room.

The nations worked under a heavy silence, each one feeling the weight of the tension in the room. If anything, the earlier fights reminded them how much they disliked one another. How outside of this mansion, they were two separate groups at war. Hell, China wondered if they could all coexist and find a way out.

Maybe the demon wouldn't get them. Maybe the nations would kill each other instead. It would be easy enough. They were all at each other's throats as it was. Even within the groups they formed the nations seemed suspicious of each other. There was no way in hell every nation here was going to get out alive. Someone was going to die in this mansion. Could they even be killed? Can nations be killed? Oh God what if-

"China."

China blinked, turning toward the source of the voice, Japan.

"Huh? What is it?" China asked, still trying to collect his thoughts.

"You're in the way." Japan said.

"Oh...sorry. I just...sorry. I shouldn't even be telling you this. Never mind."

Japan made a quick look around, seeing the other nations were occupied.

"No, tell me what's wrong." he said.

"What?"

"Did I stutter? I said tell me what's wrong." Japan hissed, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure the other nations were still occupied.

"Uh...It's just...no. Why the hell am I even telling you this? We're not even on the same side."

"Dammit, China. Don't tell me you're cracking under the pressure of our situation already."

"What? No, that's not-" China tried to explain himself, being quickly cut off by Japan.

"Silence! Look, I know this is different from the usual battlefield setting, but for now, we are allies. We're going to get out of here, and everything will go back to being normal. Now collect yourself and calm down." Japan hissed.

"But-"

"Don't do anything rash or idiotic either."

"Why do you care so much? Aren't you supposed to hate me?"

Japan paused for a moment, squinting a little. He straightened his posture, crossing his arms and averting his gaze for a moment. Of course, China knew what his body language meant.

Japan was taking his time to consider his words.

He usually took this stance when his opponent had thrown him off balance in an argument. It was a rare expression on him.

"I can't lose the only sane person on the Allied forces. It's obvious you're the only one with any common sense out of the five of you." Japan finally said.

"Oh." China replied lamely. He should've figured Japan's reason was just something like that. For some reason he was expecting a heart felt confession of some sort. Yeah, a love confession would've been nice.

'_I must have watched too many of Taiwan's sappy dramas.' _he thought.

"What? Were you expecting a love confession or something?" Japan sneered, regaining his confident tone with ease.

"Tch. I was actually expecting a death threat." China replied, adopting a conceited tone of his own.

"How unfortunate for you." Japan cooed in a sickly sweet tone. "In any case, get off of your lazy ass and help me with the rest of the sheets." he then finished, already moving away to continue his work. China only rolled his eyes and complied to the order.

'_The first civil conversation we've had in years and it ended like that.' _ he thought.

With everyone pitching in, the new sleeping area was set up in about half an hour.

"Good work, everyone. Now we have a suitable place to sleep." Japan said. "Everyone choose a space, it's best we get to sleep quickly for the day ahead."

Without protest, everyone followed Japan's suggestion. China chose a futon near the end, trying to get as far away from everyone as possible. His inner paranoia was showing, and the situation they were all in didn't help either.

He was on edge. What on earth was stopping his allies from killing him right now? What about _the Axis? _Oh God, why did he come here in the first place?

A sudden shuffling noise beside China snapped him out of his thoughts once again. Turning to his right, his gaze was met with Japan's.

"Hello." Japan said.

'_Oh. That's why I came here.' _ China thought. He came here to get Japan before he did anything stupid. Older brother instinct kicked in and old habits died hard. Even centuries later, Japan could still make China bend to his every whim, even indirectly.

God dammit.

"Hey, I greeted you, asshole!" Japan hissed, punching the other man's arm. "Say something!"

China looked at Japan for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

'_Oh yeah, I should probably say something, huh?' _

"What is it, you little brat?" China sneered. It was better not to let Japan know how much power he had over him.

"I'm sleeping next to you for the night, so move over." Japan replied, punching China'a arm.

"Tch. Shouldn't you be sleeping with your precious allies?"

"No, I think they'll be sleeping with each other anyway."

"Oh, so since you couldn't rely on your allies, you came to rely on your older brother?" China teased.

"Don't call yourself that." Japan hissed, teeth barred.

_'Looks like I struck a nerve.' _China thought, quirking an eyebrow. However, as much as he wanted to annoy Japan, he decided it wasn't the best idea to cause friction, especially considering how uneasy everyone already was.

Time to change tactics.

"Sorry, I didn't know you disliked like the term." China apologized.

"Tch, figures. You never did pay attention to how _I _felt."

This was going badly. China wasn't fixing the situation, he was making it worse. Time to backtrack out of this subject.

"So why are you so keen on sleeping with me?" China asked a little more seductively than he meant to.

"Pa-pardon me?" Japan sputtered.

_'Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.' _ China thought. '_Bad move. Very, very bad move. Defuse the situation, idiot!' _

"Oh so you were paying attention to me." he told Japan, hoping to brush the whole thing off as a joke.

"You are such an ass!" Japan hissed, punching China in the arm again.

"Shit, that hurt!" China hissed back, clutching his arm. He swore he could already feel a bruise forming.

"_Good._ Now go the hell to sleep, we can't have anyone dragging their ass if we all want to get out of here alive." Japan commanded, already turning away from China.

"_You were the one keeping me up!" _

"Shut it, no I wasn't. You were keeping yourself up with your..._your depraved thoughts of me!" _

_"_Oh for fuck's sake-"

"_Go to sleep. _I'm done talking with you." Japan said, scooting further away from China and...was he shivering?

"Hey, are you okay? You seem cold..." China said, reaching a hand out to try to comfort the other man.

"_Don't you dare touch me." _Japan growled, immediately making China retract his hand. Okay, no comforting Japan.

A blond blob in the distance caught China'a attention, drawing his eyes upward, above Japan's head. England was staring at them.

How long had he been staring? Hell, China didn't even know when he'd laid down.

The blonde had a wide grin on his face, his eyes filled with glee, almost as if he knew some hidden secret...

Oh shit. He knew.

China quickly turned the other way, away from Japan's back and England's leering eyes. So what if he still cared for Japan? It wasn't bad, it was just brotherly instinct. There was nothing wrong with it.

Yes, nothing wrong with that at all. He was just being a good person. There were no romantic feelings between him and Japan whatsoever.

No matter how fake it sounded, China kept repeating those words in his head until he fell asleep.

**And...that's it! For this story anyway. Any form of feedback is appreciated and I hope you all enjoyed it!**


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